Monday, March 9, 2015

Spring Is Around the Corner…

Poudre River Canyon

Sunday and the Sun Is Out...!

Called up JT and by 11:00am we were loading up the truck
heading to the Poudre River with hopes of dodging the fly fisher hatch, spending some
time in the sun and spending some time on the river pre-runoff.

No wind, clear skies and 50 degree weather had us anxious to
get to the river. We lucked out! We dodged the fly fisher hatch, rather surprising
actually, because we were getting outside rain, snow or shine and figured everyone else would be on the same page.

Poudre River Gin

The canyon is transitioning from the holds of winter to the
mud season of pre-spring to the future transformation of spring.

The floating
ice signaled the changing of the seasons.

The water is gin clear and we know
that it will be a torrent soon. 38 degrees still makes the feet numb and the
fish feel as if they were taken out of the refrigerator. Not cold enough to keep us out of the water.

JT and I fished a double nymph rig on our Tenkara rods and
were introduced to Poudre River Brown’s using #16 ABU's, #18 black Zebra Midges and #14 Copper John's. The leader was 13-14 feet long before the lead nymph and
then another 8 inches before the next nymph. Bead heads helped get the nymphs
down to the noses of fish holding in deeper water. JT used a Cutthroat nymph leader and I used a 10 1/2 tapered 5X Umpqua trout leader.

Tenkara USA 11ft Iwana

Tips
from the Trip:

Enjoy the
moment: Enjoy the drive, the time with your fishing buddy and be present in
the moment. The places we fish tell different stories every time we visit, if
we just take the time to listen.

JT's Poudre River Brown

Layers:
Layers for warmth and you never know when you might go swimming and need to change or go home… Another story
for another time.

Don’t be
that fly fisher: As excited as we were to get on the water…stop and check
the water. Make sure there are no other fly fishers on the water or moving into
the water. Don’t be classless and jump into water a fly fisher is working.
Smile, share some stories and swap some flies. The fishing gods will reward you.

Change
what you think you know: During season transitions, look for fish in all
the water not the water that typically holds fish for ya.